Operating Systems - Software Review - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, Dec, 2000 by Jim Freund

Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Rating: 6

A Excellent network support

B Not the best choice for the home

Red Hat Linux 6.2

* ($30 Standard, $80 Deluxe with phone support; 888-REDHAT1, www.redhat.com)

Of all the OSes we Looked at, Red Hat Linux was the most stable, most flexible, and most awkward to use--we had to get our hands dirty several times during the configuration process.

On the positive side, Red Hat's Deluxe distribution includes one of the best available Linux software bundles, plus excellent support. Once you have everything set up, there's little you need to worry about. Red Hat gives you a choice of both the KDE and GNOME graphical desktop environments, and offers great flexibility for customizing your interface.

However, most of the caveats we gave for Windows 2000 apply here as well. Linux is not for the faint of heart, and Red Hat's version is targeted more toward the IT expert than the casual user. We had to reinstall and tweak the OS a few times before we were able to achieve the configuration we wanted, and that's not something a home business owner will want to spend time doing. As such, we can't recommend Red Hat unless you're a Linux enthusiast ready to take advantage of its power and Low cost.

Red Hat Linux 6.2 Rating: 5

A Today's most stable and flexible OS

B ... is the hardest to learn and use

RATINGS

HOME OFFICE COMPUTING rates products on a scale of 1 to 10--with few 9's or 10's--based on value, performance, innovation (medals go to rare standouts in these areas), ease of use, and suitability for home offices. The A and B symbols indicate pros and cons.

LINUX GLOSSARY

Enterprise A large business organization and the computer and network systems it uses.

GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) A graphical user interface (GUI) for the Linux OS, designed to make both using the OS and developing software for the OS easier.

KDE (K Desktop Environment) The most popular graphical user interface used with the Linux operating system.

Linux An open-source version of Unix that runs on several popular platforms. The basic source code, or kernel, is developed into distributions by vendors including Caldera, Corel, and Red Hat.

Open Source Software that is distributed for free, with the source code available to anyone who wants to develop it.